Deaderick shot, expected to be released from hospital Tuesday

Alabama starting defensive end Brandon Deaderick remained hospitalized Tuesday morning recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered Monday night in an apparent robbery attempt.

Police said Deaderick was shot once in the forearm.

Brad Fisher, a spokesman for DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, said the bullet missed vital areas and is not considered life-threatening.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban said Deaderick is expected to be released from the hospital later Tuesday.

“We feel very fortunate that Brandon is doing well and that this is not a more serious situation,“ Saban said in statement released by the school Tuesday morning. “We are hopeful that his condition will continue to improve. ... Our concern at this time is for Brandon’s continued recovery as our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, not about when he will return to football.”

The Tuscaloosa News reported Deaderick was in the parking lot of Rivermont Apartments around 10 p.m. Monday when a man in dark clothes, a dark ball cap and a blue bandana over his face pointed a gun and demanded money.

Deaderick refused and the man shot him. The newspaper’s web site reported the bullet hit his forearm and ricocheted into his hip.

The 6-foot-4, 306-pound senior from Elizabethtown, Ky., started all 14 games last season. He recorded 36 tackles and four sacks with seven quarterback hurries in 2008.